The GST Council meeting starts today, which will run two days and will end on 4 September. This meeting is being held in New Delhi and the eyes of the entire country are on it. This meeting is considered special because there can be major changes in the tax structure of GST. The government can take a big decision to reduce four tax slabs to two. If this happens, this will be the biggest change after the implementation of GST in 2017. This will not only bring transparency in business, but can also give relief to common people on many things.
Slabs of 12% and 28% will end
According to the GST Council’s plan, now only two tax slabs and 18% will be applicable in the country. The current 12% and 28% slabs can be abolished. This is considered a solid step towards making the tax system more simple and transparent. The 3-4 September meeting was told in the circular issued by the ex-official secretary of the GST Council. At the same time, according to the notice of the Revenue Secretary, before this meeting, discussions were also held between the states and the central government officials on 2 September.
40% separate slab for products like tobacco, cigarettes
There is also a special proposal in the meeting that an additional tax slab of 40% should be fixed separately for tobacco, cigarette, gutkha and other demerit (harmful) products. It is being called Sin Tax, whose aim is not only to increase revenue, but also control the consumption of these products. Luxury cars, high-end electronics and some special services can also fall into this category. Additional revenue received from this can be used in social welfare schemes.
How will this change affect the common people?
Finance and policy experts believe that this structural change in GST will promote market consumption. On the one hand, while the business class will get ease of tax compliance, consumers may also make some products cheap. According to political analyst Ayush Nambiar, India’s tax system was complex and scattered before GST. There were different rules in every state, which caused obstacles in business. GST has done the work of connecting the entire country as a market and now this change will be another strong step in that direction.
GST collection is also strengthened
While on the one hand there is a preparation for major improvement in GST structure, on the other hand revenue collection figures are also encouraging. In August 2025, the GST collection stood at Rs 1.86 lakh crore, which is 6.5% more than the previous year. This figure is an indication that the tax system is getting stronger in the country and along with this, there is a boom in economic activities.